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They’re gonna need all the help they can get

Wednesday, Mar 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Newspaper endorsements aren’t truly effective until a candidate uses them in a mailer or TV ad. And since Rep. Ron Sandack is fighting for his political life against a hardcore, well-funded conservative, and Rep. Ed Sullivan is having more trouble than expected with his conservative primary opponent, this Tribune nod is probably not something they’ll be touting to GOP primary voters in its entirety…

Only three Republicans in the Illinois House supported same-sex marriage when it was approved last year. Two of those Republicans face primary challenges, largely because of that vote. They are Rep. Ron Sandack of Downers Grove and Rep. Ed Sullivan of Mundelein.

Their votes caught many same-sex marriage opponents by surprise. Sandack and Sullivan voted in 2010 against legislation that allowed civil unions, a far less-sweeping change in law.

Um, OK.

* But there are some things the two incumbents can use. For instance…

Sullivan and Sandack protect your pocketbook. They are fiscally prudent. They have the record to prove it.

* Meanwhile, this is how the Trib described freshman Rep. Kathleen Willis’ Democratic primary opponent Tony Favela…

Favela is running an aggressive campaign

Who spun them on that?

Favela has raised almost no money and he’s just barely on the HDem radar screen.

Heckuva job, Brownie.

9 Comments

- wordslinger - Wednesday, Mar 5, 14 @ 10:32 am:
–Who spun them on that?–

Paul Lis? He used to own the Tribbie editorial board.

- NotRMiller - Wednesday, Mar 5, 14 @ 10:33 am:
word: Isn’t Paul Lis and Brownie one and the same??

- Noy Noy - Wednesday, Mar 5, 14 @ 10:37 am:
The Trib endorsed Willis solely because she voted for the Pension Bill.

I wonder - if Toni Berrios had voted for the final version of the pension bill, would they have endorsed her over vociferously anti-SB1 Guzzardi? Or is their hate for Joe Berrios so strong that they would even eschew their fiscal-house-in-order crusade?

- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Mar 5, 14 @ 10:52 am:
Candidates need to answer for their votes, regardless of which side they voted on a bill. Sometimes this pleases an old rag like the Trib, and sometimes not. Hoping that one of your votes can be ignored is not a strategy.

If enough conservative GOP voters dislike these candidate’s votes regarding gay marriage, they could lose - but that’s the way democracy works. Not every conservative GOP voter will have a problem with this - stop pigeonholing them.

- DG Dad - Wednesday, Mar 5, 14 @ 2:42 pm:
I find Rep. Sandack’s vote on SSM deplorable for many reasons and do not intend for this to be the focus here. But the only thing I find even more disgusting is a single issue candidate being funded by people that are really, really bad for the future of the Republican Party. A vote to expel Sandack does nothing to change the SSM legislation (don’t even start on the repealing it nonsense), but it does change many other issues and initiatives that he supports that are very good for the 81st and the GOP.

- DG Republican - Wednesday, Mar 5, 14 @ 3:48 pm:
DG Dad is correct. Matune is nothing more than a one issue candidate backed by hate groups. Sandack has done a fantastic job representing ALL in Dist. 81. The DGTRO led by former mayor Krajewski (who lost the mayorship to Sandack in 2007) will back Matune. Not because Matune is better. But, because Krajewski is bitter. A Matune win would guarantee a candidate slated by the Democrats. Matune is too extreme and too far to the right to beat a moderate Democrat. Krajewski needs to be removed from leadership.

- Toure's Latte - Wednesday, Mar 5, 14 @ 3:49 pm:
I have had drummed into my head that Representative Sandack voted yes for every tax and fee increase over eight years in Downers grove, and my friends who live there use colorful language describing his “outreach to those he disagrees with”.

When elephants fight, it is best to get out of the room.

- Toure's Latte - Wednesday, Mar 5, 14 @ 4:00 pm:
PS-I was forwarded an email from the Downers Grove Township Democrats saying, among other things:

“We do expect to slate a candidate for the 81st State State (sic) Rep District and we need to show Democratic strength in the primary to make sure we can attract donations to support a Democratic win in November.”

- Walker - Wednesday, Mar 5, 14 @ 4:59 pm:
Rauner can buy voter data bases, train paid field workers, move some of those employees/contractors paid to get signatures on his term-limits petitions, and generally buy a good field general for GOTV.

I don’t see much field work going on now, up here in the burbs, but it might be done with a ton of money well-applied.

That often can backfire, when voters get the impression that those they’re talking with have no personal loyalty to Rauner.

But he does apparently have some real pros on his payroll, so nothing would surprise me.

Rauner might be rewriting the book on how a rich guy, can buy an election in Illinois.

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